Open-end, slidable jaw face wrench



May 9, 1961 E. v. BUXTON, JR

OPEN-END, SLIDABLE JAW FACE WRENCH Filed Dec. 3, 1958 FIG.

INVENTOR ATTORNEY- United States Patent "ice 2,933,113 ormv-ENn, srnAnLr. JAWHFA'CE WRENCH Earl Van Buxton, In, Rte. 3, Box 249, Opelika,Ala; Filed Dec. 3,1958, 561'. No. 777,968 1 Claim. 01. 81- 179) Afurther object consists in providing the wrench with a mouth having afixed jaw and a confronting slidable jaw face, together with a rear endwall" The confronting gripping surfaces and the rear wallare providedwith coacting transverse notches or grooves constructed and arranged toreceive the corners and sides of a polygonalshape nut ora square nut byproviding a maximum of twelve gripping surfaces.v By reason of thisnovel arrangement, means are provided for insuring theefficientoperation of the wrench which permit its use in a narrow orrestricted space where normally it is diflicult to operate a wrench.Additionally, the structure provides means for operatively connectingthe wrench to the nut to rotate I the. latter when it is positionedoutwardlyi towards the forwardpart of the mouth as well: as when the.nut is positioned all the way into .the wrench and with the rear wall ofthemouth;

A further object consists in'slidablyconnecting the movable jaw face toa dovetail rib that 'confr on ts the fixed jaw. "The slidable'jaw faceis normally maintained in its inward position adjacent the rear wall ofthe mouth by a compression spring which is housedinlthe head of thewrench adjacent the handle thereof, so as to allow the wrench tobe..of.relatively small size and in which the housing forthe.compressiomsp'ring'lis recessed or drilled in such 'a manner thatitdoesnotzweaken'ione side of the wrench and positions the .spring in' thethick and strong part of the .head, with the result that the "wrench isnot appreciably weakeneddue to theformation of the Spring housing.-

Other objects andadvantages of theinvention come apparent from thefollowing description when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying'claim and drawings.

Referring to the drawings, in which is disclosed a preferred embodimentof the invention:

Fig. l is a perspective view of an open-end slidable jaw face wrench,constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, with parts in section, of the head portionof the open-end wrench;

Fig. 3 is a side view of the head portion of the wrench;

Fig. 4 is an end elevational view taken substantially along line 4-4 ofFig. l; and

Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the spring assembly.

in .engagement 1 Referring more particularly to the drawings, 10indicates the handle of an open-end wrench which has at one end anenlarged curved head 11 provided with a cen-' trally disposed mouth ornut-receiving recess 12. The mouth 12 on one side thereof has a fixedjaw 13 provided with a transverse-notch or groove 14 intermediate (Fig.4). A slidable or movable jaw face 17 shown of substantiallywedge-shape, has the bottom 18 provided centrally with a channel orgroove 19 of substantially the same configuration as the rib 16 so as tobe longitudinally slidable onthe latter when the parts are assembled.On'

opposite sides of the rib 16 are longitudinally extending flat topsurfaces 29-(Fig. 4). The slidable jaw face 17 has an inner grippingsurface 20'provided with a trans-' verse notch or groove 21 positionedintermediate the length of the jaw face 17. The rear wall '22 of themouth 12 is formed with a straight side 23 disposed substantially atright anglesto the gripping face 24 of the fixed jaw 13 and whichterminates in a substantially V-shape enlarged notch 25 having a short,inclined side 26 and a longer, inclined side 27 that intersect onopposite sides ofthe head 11 with the wedge or V-shape slot 28 thatconstitute continuations of the flat top surfaces 29 and which extendinwardly beyond the rear end wall 22. The reduced tapered inner endportions 17 of the movable jaw face 17, when thelatter is in itsinnermost position within the mouth 12, frictionally engages with awedging action the adjacent sides of the V-shape slots or grooves sleeveorferrule 3211, that in turn adjustably receives an externally threadedbolt 32. The housing 30 has a trans-- verse web 30- through whichextends the bolt 32 so as to provide an adjustable connection of 'thebolt with the sleeve 32a in order to control or regulate the tension ofthe coil spring 31. 'The spring 31'has;an outer coil portion-33 whichmay terminate in an elongated straight end portion' 34 of such length asto extend forwardly' through a central longitudinally extending groove35 in .the top of the rib 16 (Fig.4) and terminates in an inwardlyprojecting hooked end- 36 that is embedded or" fixedin a recess 37 (Fig.2) in the front end of the mov able jaw-face 17 when. the parts areassembled; The mouth 12 of the'wrench is of any suitable size'soas torecive a=polygonal-shape nut, boltor the like, such" as the hexagonalnut'38 which has the straight sides 39 conne'cted by the corners 40 andof such- 'size as slidably to fit 1 within 'the mouth 'IZ -inthe'head 11of the wrench."

that the nut is moved all the way into the mouth and assumes theposition as shown in Fig. 2. It will be noted that in this position theflat sides 39 of the nut overlap the transverse grooves 14 and 21 of thejaws, and a corner 40 and its adjacent sides fit within the groove 25.

' Assuming the nut 38 has right-handed threads, it will be seen thatupon the rotation of the same by the wrench in the direction of thearrow 41 (Fig. 2), or in a clockwise direction, the nut will betightened to its connected memher and the slidable jaw face 17 will bemaintained in a fixed inward position due to the frictional engagementof the spaced tapered inner end portions 17' which now engage the sidesof the V-shape slots or grooves 28. Conversely, when the pressure isreleased from the handle 10 and the wrench turned counterclockwise inthe direction of the mouth 12, thus allowing the jaws 13 and 17 to' slipover and outwardly ofthe notches 14- and 21, so that thernovablejaw faceunder the tension of the spring 31 may be returned to itsnormalinnermost position within 4 the mouth 12 (Fig. 2) to continueeither the threading of hand, the recessing and drilling of the housing30, in which is positioned the tension spring 31, is done in such mani'.the jaws, as contrasted to the prior teaching in the art the nut. to aconnecting member or the removal of the v same therefrom.

Thus, it will be seen that by-moving-or swinging the handle 10 of thewrench back and forth, a continuous rotationis imparted to-the nut whichallows the wrench to be turned continuously without removal of the nutor bolt from the wrench. Moreover, the spring 31 serves, 1

to maintain the movable jaw face 17 in its innermost po-' sion, as shownin Fig. 2, with the result that when the handle 10 is turned away fromthe jaw face 17, the latter slides out of the mouth 12 a limiteddistance, allowing the wrench to turn, and when this pressure isreleased,

the spring 27 which has been expanded, functions to re-- turn themovable jaw face to itsnormal innermost posiof 15 relative to the topsurfaces 29 on opposite sides of the grooves 16, so as to insureefiicient openationof the wrenchwhen securing a bolt 38 to a connectingmember or removing the same therefrom. This angular inclination of thegripping face with the surfaces 29, tends to insure not only a bindingengagement of the nut 38 with the jaws but also freedom of engagement ofthe sides of the nut with the jaws so as to facilitate the eflicient,operation of the wrench. The polygonal nut or bolt 38 has a clearancewith the adjacent walls of the mouth 12 of to so as to provide asuflicient angle. to make the movable jaw 17 slip easier and lock,

tighter when the wrench is in operation.

It will be observed that the transverse, notches 14, 21,

and coact with the side walls of the mouth 12 to pro-' vide amulti-sided gripping surface so that the wrench can be operated in avery restricted or narrow space without in any way impairing, its'etficiency. Moreover, the dovetail connection of the movable jaw facewith the head and the housing of the spring 31 provides means forconstructing or making a relatively small size wrench and one that maybe efficiently used in small or restricted areas.

In this connection, it might be noted that wrenches of this generaltype, as previously made, are rather bulky or heavy and only capable ofuse with very large nuts in readily accessible places. Heretofore,associating slidable jaws faces with wrenches required T-slots and theuse of a large wrench in order to preserve enough strength to make ituseful. In the present invention, on the other ner that the housing isformed in a strong part of the wrench so that the jawsv are notmaterially weakened as is quite frequently the case .in wrenches of thistype as heretofore constructed. It will be noted that the wrench willefliciently. work with the nut 38 in the outer end of in which the nuthas: to benioved fully" into the jaw before the wrench will operate. a

Thus, it will be seen that the wrench maybe either of large or smallsizeand dispenses with the-use of relatively heavy wrenches which requireboring out of the recess or the use of a pinto extend through thespring, thus necessitating relatively heavy pieces of metal to make thewrench. It will be manifest that the wrench may be provided at each endwith an enlarged head, shaped to receive means for operating a nut orbolt. 7

It will be understood that the form of the invention shown is merelyillustrative and that such changes may be made as come within the scopeof the following claim.

I claim:

A wrench for polygonal-shape nuts, bolts and the like, including ahandle having azhead'at one end, 'said head having a nut-receiving mouthforming a fixed, jaw, a confronting inclined side and rear wall, saidfixed jaw having a transverse notch intermediate the length thereof,

: said inclined side having a dovetail rib extending upward! ly andlongitudinally thereof, a movable jaw face having abottom provided witha longitudinally extendinggroove slidably connected to said rib, saidmovable jaw face? havingan inclined inner gn'ppingsurface confrontingsaid fixed jaw and a transverse'notch in said surface, said fear ing atransverse web provided with an opening, an externally threaded'boltextending through said opening into engagement with the threads of saidferrule so as to control the tension of said spring, and the outer endof said 7 spring being connected to said slidable jaw face for. normallyurging the same inwardly towards said rear wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS MacLean Oct; 6, 1959

